Multiple system double-cylinder circular knitting machine



Se t. 16, 1969 H. PAEPKE 3,466,397

MULTIPLE SYSTEM DOUBLE-CYLINDER CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed Aug. 24,1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fla-l INVENTOR: Horsf PAE PKE ymmaw ATTORNEY Sept.16, 1969 H. PAEPKE MULTIPLE SYSTEM DOUBLE-CYLINDER CIRCULAR KNITTINGMACHINE Filed Aug. 24, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet I 2/ \//\T\ L3 /5a 15a \/4(la [5c /\/5 W n 1 I 1/4/1 i I I n I INVENTOR: HorsT PAEPKE BY M Q mATTORNEY United States Patent 3,466,897 MULTIPLE SYSTEM DOUBLE-CYLINDERCIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Horst Paepke, Rottenburg (Neckar), Germany,assignor to Mayer & Cie, Tailfingen, Germany, a firm Filed Aug. 24,1966, Ser. No. 574,735 Claims priority, application Germany, Aug. 26,1965, M 66,453 Int. (31. D04]: 9/10 US. Cl. 66-14 3 Claims ABSTRACT OFTHE DISCLOSURE A needle transfer selecting means is situated only ateach second one of a plurality of cam systems of the lower cylinder of adouble cylinder machine, and the plurality of cam systems coact with thesliders which are selected and not selected by the selecting means toreturn the selected ones of the sliders t0 the non-selected sliders onlyafter the selected ones of the sliders have moved through a cam systemto transfer needles to the upper cylinder and another cam system toreceive needles back from the upper cylinder, so that return of theselected sliders is brought about only at every other cam system of theplurality of lower cylinder cam systems.

This invention relates generally to a multiple-system double cylindercircular knitting machine and in particular to a machine of this typehaving a large cylinder Width and higher number of systems than similarcircular knitting machines of the prior art; the machine of thisinvention is thereby adapted to manufacture a patterned links-links typeof knitted fabric having a Jacquard type knitted pattern.

It is a general object of this invention to provide a circular knittingmachine of the aforedescribed type which produces this patterned knittedfabric with a relatively high output by incorporating into the machinecam members of special configuration.

It has been noted that the operating speed of the linkslinks typeknitting machine of the prior art can not be increased at will, becausebeyond a certain speed, the shifting of the sliders, during the transferof the needles from one cylinder to the other, can no longer beaccomplished satisfactorily.

Links-links types of circular knitting machines are known in the art. Inthese known knitting machines the cam members of the upper and lowercylinders are, however, in the vertical sense provided throughout withidentical tracking patterns so that the needles of each knitting systemcan selectively work on both cylinders. Furthermore for the formation ofloops the needles must be continuously pressed out at common loopsinking position at both cam sides in each system. The selectiveshifting of the needles from one cylinder to the other is effectuated bymeans of adjustable cams arranged at the middle of the corresponding cammember which guide the slides for the engaging and disengaging of theneedles. This arrangement of the cam members requires, however,relatively broad systems, so that only a relatively small number ofsystems can be arranged around the perimeter of the machine.Consequently, there can only be knitted a relatively small number ofrows of loops with each revolution of this known links-links type ofcircular knitting machine.

It is therefore a principal object of this invention to provide alinks-links type circular knitting machine which overcomes theaforedescribed disadvantages of the machines of this type known in theart.

The machine of this invention overcomes the afore- "ice describeddisadvantages of the prior art devices by arranging and shaping the cammembers thereof so that they have a shortened width, without detractingfrom the proper guiding of the needles or their sliders. A Jacquardapparatus is only arranged at each second system of the lower cylinderand all sliders of the machine pass through the selecting mechanismthereof. The latter mechanism selects by means of transfer cam membersthe needles corresponding to the system of the upper cylinder. A cammember is mounted on the upper cylinder for acting only on thetransferred needles corresponding to the system of the upper cylinder.In the following systems of the upper and lower cylinders there arearranged transfer cam members for return guiding all transferred needlesto the lower cylinder where a loop sinking mechanism for all needles ofthe machine is arranged; the latter mechanism pertains to thecorresponding system of the lower cylinder.

A further feature of this invention consists in having the sliders ofthe transferred needles, after the disengagement of the needles, guidedin a projected position through a guide groove of a transfer cam member,which extends across the loop-sinking cam of the system provided withthe Jacquard-apparatus until the following system of the lower cylinder.

The aforementioned as well as additional objects, features, andadvantages of the present invention will become more clearly apparentfrom the following detailed description thereof which is to be read withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of the sliders of the lower and uppercylinder in their positions with respect to each other and with respectto the knitting needles and also for the purpose of clarifying thetransfer of the needles from the lower to the upper cylinder andviceversa; and

FIG. 2 is a primarily schematic plan view of the cam members of bothcylinders for two adjacent knitting systerns.

Referring now specifically to the drawing there are illustrated in FIG.1 the sliders 2 and 3 which are operatively connected to adouble-cylinder knitting machine (not illustrated) the construction ofwhich is known and belongs to the prior art. Thus there is illustratedin FIG. 1 the double-ended latch needle 1 mounted on the slider 2 whichis guided by the lower cylinder (not illustrated) of the double-cylinderknitting machine and the slider 3 which is guided by the upper cylinder(not illustrated) of the double-cylinder knitting machine. Both sliders2 and 3 have respectively in their middle region a projecting butt 4 andat their rear ends a butt 5. The upper and lower sliders 2 and 3 areconstructed and shaped so that their interior faces are slightly angledup to a pivot line 6 which is situated close to the butt 4. Due to thisspecial shape of the sliders 2 and 3, they can be pivoted into thetricks of the needle cylinder of the respective slider so that theforward end of the slider which engages the needle head 1a or 1b can berespectively disengaged therefrom. Both sliders 2 and 3 are illustratedin FIG. 1 in the engaged position, whereby the slider 2 of the lower cylinder is shown as actually engaging the needle head 1:: of thedouble-ended latch needle 1, whereas the slider 3 of the upper cylinderis shown as not engaging a needle. The forward ends of the upper andlower sliders are provided with coupling grooves 7 for engagingrespectively with little play the needle head 1a and 1b. The sliders aresecured in each cam member by means of suitable slider cover members, sothat a shifting of the needles out of the coupling grooves 7 isprevented.

As a first step for transferring the needles from one cylinder into theother, that is to say in the illustrated embodiment from the lowerneedle cylinder into the upper one, the silder 2. with the double-endedlatch needle 1 is guided upwardly until the needle 1b of the needle 1 isguided behind the forward end 3a of the slider 3. The upper tongue ofthe double-ended latch needle 1 is thereby opened by the pointed end 3aof the slider 3. The slider 2 is slid upwardly until the needle headautomatically engages the coupling groove 7 of the slider. Subsequentlythereto, the lower end of the silder 2 is pushed into a trick in thelower cylinder by means of a cover member (not illustrated) via thelower guide leg 5. The slider 2 is thereby pivoted about the pivot point6 and the upper end 2a moves in a clockwise sense thereby disengagingits coupling groove 7 from the needle head 1a. Subsequently thereto, dueto a forward movement of the slider 3, the needle is guided into acatch-thread-position in the upper cylinder.

A Jacquard apparatus or selecting means is mounted in the knittingmachine of this invention and serves to select those needles which areto be transferredrespectively not transferred-from the lower to theupper cylinder. Jacquard-apparatuses are known in the art. A detaileddescription of their mode of operation has therefore been omitted. Aselection station slit at which area the Jacquard-apparatus acts in apredetermined manner on the sliders of the lower cylinder is illustrated in FIG. 2 by broken lines and is designated by the numeral 11.This selection station slit 11 is constructed, arranged and operated sothat the selected plate bar is not acted on by the subsequently arrangedcam member 12. The sliders 2 of the lower cylinder which travel in thedirection of the arrow 13, reach with their butts 4 (FIG. 1), thecollection guide groove 14 of a first cam system for the lower cylinderof the machine. The sliders which had not been selected by means of theJacquard-apparatus of the machine are not acted on by the cam member 12and, consequently, remain in the lower guide groove 15, whereas theother selected sliders, the needles of which are to be transferred intothe upper cylinder, are guided upwardly until they reach thehorizontally extending guide groove 16a.

The sliders 3 of the upper cylinder enter with their butts 4 (FIG. 1)into the guide groove 17 of the cam system of the upper cylinder of theknitting machine which is only schematically illustrated in FIG. 2. Itwill be noted that no Jacquard-apparatus operatively cooperates with theupper cylinder of the knitting machine. The silders 3 positioned in theguide groove portion 17a can then engage the needles of those sliders 2which are oppositely positioned in the giude groove portion 16a.Subsequently thereto, the transferred sliders are guided upwardly by theguide groove portion 17b. Thereby the needles, which had been engaged bythe sliders 3 are positioned first in the thread-laying-in-position andthen by means of the guide groove portion 17c of the cam member 18 ofthe upper cam system, are positioned in the loop-forming position. Thesliders 3 are then guided again downwardly by means of the guide grooveportion 17d to the horizontal guide groove portion 17e of the nextadjacent cam system.

The sliders 2, which carrry the non-transferred needles, are guidedalong the lower cams and are moved in the guide groove portion 15a tothe knitting position and are then positioned in the guide groove 15c ofthe cam member 19 in the loop forming position. The cam member '18 ofthe upper cams and the cam member 19 of the lower cams are adjusted withrespect to each other. The needles of both cylinders are, in the regionof the cam members 18 and 19, serviced by a common thread guide member20.

After the needles have been transferred from the sliders 2 of the lowercams, such sliders being guided in the path 16 into the transfer guidegroove 16a, into the sliders 3 in the guide groove portion 17a of theupper cams, then, in contrast to the circular knitting machines of theprior art, the preselected sliders 2 of the lower cams, instead of beingretracted into the lower guide groove 15, are maintained in theirprojected position in the following cam system while being guided alongthe guide groove portions 16b, 16c and guide groove portion 16d of theadjacent cam system until they are re-engaged with the transferred backneedles in the next guide groove portion 16e of the lower cam system.Thereafter, the pro-selected sliders 2 are retracted into the knittingposition 21, where they join again the non-selected, elevated sliders 2,which remained in the lower cam side, and which reach the knittingposition 21 via the guide groove portions 15d and 15e. All of thesliders 2 of the lower cylinder, all of which now are coupled withneedles, are then moved from the knitting position 21 to theloop-forming position 21a where the selecting of these needles which areto be transferred and those needles which are not to be transferred iseffectuated by the next following selecting means or J acquard-apparatus11.

It should be noted that both cam systems which are illustrated in FIG. 2are repeated over the entire periphery of the circular knitting machine.

Due to the special guiding of the sliders in the cam systems of thecircular knitting machine of this invention, and due to their selectedsplitting up regarding their knitting positions by arranging a selectingmeans or J acquardapparatus only at every second cam system, aconsiderably larger number of systems can be arranged on the circularknitting machine of this invention than on the circular knittingmachines of the prior art with compara ble diameters. Thus, for example,there can be arranged 20 cam systems on a circular knitting machine ofthis invention of 30 inches diameter, whereas on a comparable doublecylinder circular knitting machine of the prior art having a 36 inchesdiameter, only twelve cam systems can be arranged. Thus, a doublecylinder knitting machine constructed according to this invention has aconsiderably higher knitting capacity than the comparable machines ofthe prior art, while at the same time producing an interesting patternin a left-left knitted fabric.

Circular knitting machines of the type discussed herein and which havebeen improved and modified by this invention are disclosed andillustrated in detail in the German text book Technologie derRundstrickerei by Albert Diebler, published by Konradin-Verlag, 1948Edition, Stuttgart, Germany.

Although my invention has been illustrated and described with referenceto one preferred embodiment thereof, I wish to have it understood thatit is in no way limited to the details of this one embodiment but iscapable of numerous modifications within the scope of the appendedclaims:

What I claim is:

1. In a double-cylinder circular knitting machine for producing apatterned links-links knitted fabric, the combination of upper and lowercylinder means, first and second pluralities of cam systems respectivelymounted on said upper and lower cylinders, first and second pluralitiesof sliders respectively slidably guided by said first and secondpluralities of cam systems of said upper and lower cylinder means, aplurality of knitting needles removably mounted in preselected slidersof said first and second pluralities of sliders, selecting means,arranged at each second one of said second plurality of cam systems ofsaid lower cylinder, for selecting a group of said second plurality ofsliders to divide the latter into a selected group and a non-selectedgroup of sliders, each pair of successive cam systems of said secondplurality of cam systems coacting with the selected group of sliders ofsaid second plurality of sliders for continuously guiding them througheach pair of successive cam systems of said second plurality of camsystems before returning the selected group to the non-selected group ofthe sliders of said second plurality of sliders at every second one ofsaid second plurality of cam systems, all of the sliders of said secondplurality of sliders passing via said selecting means, said firstplurality of cam systems including first cam means having a firstknitting position cam portion and said second plurality of cam systemsincluding second and third cam means which have a second knittingposition cam portion which coacts with all of said second plurality ofsliders, said third cam means further has a third knitting position camportion, which is aligned with said first knitting position cam portion,said third knitting position cam portion coacting only with saidnon-selected group of sliders of said second plurality of sliders.

2. In a double-cylinder circular knitting machine for producing apatterned links-links knitted fabric, the combination as set forth inclaim 1, wherein said selecting means is adapted to selectively guidepredetermined sliders of said second plurality of sliders into saidsecond cam means, said first plurality of sliders being guided by saidfirst cam means so as to pick up the knitting needles carried by saidselected group of sliders of said second plurality of sliders and saidfirst cam means thereafter guiding said first plurality of sliders andthe knitting needles having been transferred thereon to said firstknitting position cam portion and said first cam means thereafterguiding said first plurality of sliders so as to have said knittingneedles retransferred to said selected group of sliders of said secondplurality of sliders which are guided in said second cam means, saidsecond cam means is adapted to guide said selected group of sliders ofsaid second plurality of sliders after the knitting needles have beentransferred therefrom in a projected state relative to said lowercylinder means until said knitting needles have been retransferredthereon from said first plurality of sliders, whereafter said selectedgroup of sliders is retracted from said projected state by said secondcam means relative to said lower cylinder means and are guided to saidthird knitting position cam portion.

3. In a double-cylinder circular knitting machine for producing apatterned links-links knitted fabric, the combination as set forth inclaim 2, wherein said third cam means is adapted to guide the remainingsliders of said second plurality of sliders which have not been selectedby said selecting means into said second cam means to said thirdknitting position cam portion from whence all sliders of said secondplurality of sliders are guided by said third cam means to the followingcam system of said second plurality of cam systems.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3/1962 Wiesinger et al 66147/1962 Peberdy 66-14 OTHER REFERENCES WM. CARTER REYNOLDS, PrimaryExaminer

